Tuesday, October 7, 2014

The annual Metro Manila LGBT Pride March is a rather important event for me and Tobie and we make it a point to find a way to join the march every year. And this year marks the first time that there are two planned Pride Marches in Metro Manila - the Metro Manila Pride March on December 6 and the QC Pride March on December 13.

On the whole, it's great that we're seeing more opportunities for folks to show their pride and participate more in the local LGBT advocacy scene. But hopefully this should also represent growing support for the LGBT rights movement with Quezon City being the first city government to organize its own LGBT Pride event.

I think Tobie and I will more likely attend the Quezon City Pride March, especially given the progress made with the LGBT Anti-Discrimination Ordinance in the city, but if we're lucky we'll be able to manage both in order to show support for all of our LGBT peers and straight allies.

I guess my social networks are at that point in life when such marriage-focused stories become items of primary interest. Heck, I tend to be among the first to share them as well. And on the surface it's easy to just feel all warm and fuzzy about such things, on the flip side there's the somber reminder that marriage is not something I can actually explore with Tobie just yet. Sure, there are other countries that recognize same-sex marriage or strange religious institutions who perform the ceremony locally as well. But at the end of the day, the Philippines is still one of those countries where marriage equality hasn't quite happened yet - that and many other rights still being denied to the Filipino LGBT community.

But a guy can still hope, right? I think a lot of my viewing of different wedding proposal gimmicks and concept shoots for engagement photos are all part of longer term planning efforts for what Tobie and I might consider trying when we finally have that legal option to get married here.

Here are a few rather endearing videos that may serve as interesting inspiration for possible engagement plans - for now I shall vehemently deny planning anything. LOL

Saturday, July 5, 2014

It's easy to dismiss location tracking - especially between partners - as a bad thing. The classic telenovela dialog of "don't you trust me?" and stuff like that sort of come to mind when people talk about their partners asking them to report on where they are and stuff like that.

I guess it makes a difference when you choose to do something like this as opposed to being asked to do so. And as soon as I had figured out the settings for the old Google Latitude service, I had configured my phone to ping my precise location to Tobie. He hardly ever checked it, quite frankly - this was just an additional layer of security on top of my regular SMS updates about when I was leaving the office or the plate number of my cab. But it was an oddly reassuring piece of technology that has always made me feel better.

Google Latitude was eventually retired but thankfully the location sharing facility was later integrated into Google+, much to my relief. So we're back to keeping our locations properly shared with one another at all times that our phones have viable data connections. At least in case of an emergency, I know that Tobie can quickly use the service to figure out where I was - at least based on the last reported location managed by my phone. After all, Tobie may drive by I still take public transportation at rather ungodly hours given my work obligations.

And for the rare times that we're apart, like with Tobie's company outing this weekend, at least I can still check on their progress from a location perspective to help reassure me that he's generally safe and I have a decent idea of where to start looking in case of trouble.

Creepy? Maybe if he didn't know about it. But a lot of our relationship has depended on trust and honesty. And this little piece of technology has just helped us find another way to exercise that principle.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Last bonus image! It's never a dull night at O Bar, especially with friends like Jheyar and Mon. And yes, I'm wearing a weird foam wig in this photo. And Baduy Pride - namely Tobie and myself - will be Celebrating Life tonight!

Hope you all can join in the fun tonight at the O Bar Celebrate Life Pride Party 2014! You still have a few hours to find a white outfit to wear!

Today's Celebrate Life graphic showcases just how crazily creative and fabulous the Oh Divas can be, especially when it comes to their big group numbers. And whether you're enjoying the free street party outside or you pay to get into O Bar tonight, you're still going to get to see a surely spectacular show!

We hope to see you at O Bar's Celebrate Life Pride Party 2014 tonight!

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Back in 2012, Tobie used some of my photos of the O Bar Oh Divas to create a seriesof posters similar to the then newly launched tourism campaign for the Philippines. A lot as changed since then and I've continued to amass quite a number of photos of the various performances at O Bar. And given this is LGBT Pride Month, we figured we'd put together another series of posters celebrating Pride.

On June 28, 2014, O Bar is hosting its Pride Party 2014 with the theme of Celebrate Life. The event is also for the benefit of both the Take the Test and Aware HIV/AIDS advocacy projects.

So starting today and every day after, we'll be posting new graphics promoting the event and generally just celebrating how fabulous the Oh Divas are. Celebrate Life dear friends! And we hope to see you at the O Bar Pride Party 2014!

In September 2011, PJ got an opportunity to interview for a position at Malacañan Palace to become part of the President's kitchen team. Since he was based in Davao at the time, he actually ended up bunking with us at the Sietch during the interview process - he was always more than welcome in our home.

Naturally he got the job, and I wrote this entry back in my old LiveJournal, which has already been archived since then:

Saturday, April 26, 2014

I was never good with surprises. Back when I was young, a lot of my celebrations in life were shared with my brother. Given we were born three years apart, I had a bunch of birthdays where we would sort of share the cake and both wear the awesome Voltes V clothes we had, or would both get die-cast metal robots as presents (my brother got the Valkyrie from Macross. I got the hero from Orguss.) and basically celebrate things in unison because back then, it was the best way to make sure the other didn't get envious. As I got older, and gained my circle of friends, I'd find myself excited when I started to get my own "thing" on my birthdays. Around some time in college, however, was when I started to have birthdays where friends would surprise me - all claiming to be busy, only to show up at some event to greet me and my surprised mug. This happened for a few consecutive years. So when in the years after, I started to find myself celebrating birthdays on days when others also celebrated other events, I found myself getting disappointed. Frustrated even. And I then realized I didn't want surprises anymore. I didn't like anticipating for something excitedly, only to realize at the end of the day I was exciting myself for nothing at all.

Yeah, I'll admit it - I have my selfish moments.

Maybe it was because of my training with film making that I tend to notice small details. Maybe it has to do with storytelling and writing that my brain very quickly takes tangents of possibility and crafts scenarios around them. Or maybe I just... hope too much at times. But I soon came to realize I was just.. making it worse for myself each time I got disappointed. I swore off surprise parties. I always told my friends that I didn't want them anymore.

Luckily, Rocky and good friends like Prince still finds ways to surprise me. And this year was definitely a very special one.
Let's start at the beginning:

I decided to hit O bar to "salubong" my birthday. It wasn't meant to be anything special but as it turned out, it would be quite the beginning of a wonderful birthday celebration.

Upon arriving, Rupert and Jheyar both welcomed me and warmly greeted me for my birthday. The staff would find ways to greet me as they did their duties. Art Sam Lee, and other good friends such as Prince, Justin, Bench and Luningning greeted me as well, with Prince deflecting my attempts to request that the night be a quiet one. Little did I know, "shhh"-ing the people around me about my birthday was not going to happen. The spotlight shined and next thing I knew, O bar was greeting me with its usual song. Tequila flowed and gyoza filled my tummy as I said thank yous and wished Rocky was with me that night, but work is work. Prince teased me there *was* something being prepared for me and I begged him that I not be asked to climb up the stage.

Then, the Happy Birthday number happened. Let Let opened it with Marilyn Monroe's Happy Birthday song to the president, then it shifted into a newer song with darling Precious Nicole in a birthday cake dress with actual candles (yes, "69!") at the belt area and H.B.D. on her head! Crazy! They lit the candles and insisted I blow them out.

Admittedly, that alone was enough for me to feel very special about my birthday. But no, more was to come! Prince, as it turned out, had been in communication with a lot of our mutual friends including those in the geek circles. What followed next was the kind of gesture one usually only gets when one has hit some kind of celebrity status:

The lovely greetings were pouring in, from friends, from acquaintances, from the staff, from friends of friends. It was touching and lovely and admittedly, it brought a tear to my eye. I truly appreciated how all these people have taken the time to be part of this, and in as much as Prince might try to downplay how special this was, I will state it truly did feel great to be the recipient of such a gesture. And yes, it was touching how there were many ways I was being greeted, including as a Geek, a Game Master, and yes Mamita!

As I posted in Facebook:

Once again, I would like to thank all of my friends (geeks, gamers, office mates and everyone else as unique and crazy as me) for putting up with me all these 37 years of my life. For accepting me despite my drama, my anti-spoiler stance, my love for gaming and geekery, and ultimately for seeing me as someone they have chosen to be part of their lives, no matter how big or small a role it may be.

Thank you to my family, who has always been loving and supportive despite any differences we may have.

And most of all, thank you to those who shower me with love and treat me as members of their family, like Prince Poi, Nico, Ramon, Rupert - most especially to Rocky Sunico who has been my anchor, my love, my discerning critic, my partner for never ceasing to trust in me, encourage me to be better, and make life wonderful.|

And lastly, to Yoshi and the late Poy-poy, for letting me have the unconditional love only dogs can give, even if I spent 33 years of my life fearing dogs.Thank you all. I am humbled and very happy.I love you all.

Most of the people in the pictures were friends I had barely had time to reconnect with, and yet to see them greeting me for my birthday was such a happy moment. Once again, Prince Poi thank you so much for taking the time to make this wonderful gift happen.

And just when one would think it was done, he'd follow it up later in the day with a courier-sent greeting card. At a time when electronic messages and "HBD" seems to be the norm for what counts as greeting another nowadays, getting a card was admittedly a thrill.

And yes, I am keeping the contents of the card private. :-P Just me and Rocky to know what it contained. But again, thank you so much, Prince!

From work, my good friend Karlo made this sketch of me and Yoshi which I have to say was such a delight I had to make it my profile pic immediately.

I love how Yoshi is there smiling, as he peers out from my bag! And yeah, the eyebags are pretty accurate heheh. Is it just me though, or can you also read that as, "Who wants to ploy..." heheh!

Then, dear friend from back when I was young at O Sonny send me this photomontage of all the "good ole days" back when we used to hang out at Malate.

It was very quirky seeing all these old pictures! There was a bit of an "OMG" realizing even Voldemort made an appearance in the pictures. And sharp-eyed readers might be amused to see a very young and cute Rocky in stripes in the pics. But man, these definitely bring back memories! Ah those days.

More and more messages came in, greetings on both Facebook and via text, this birthday was truly lovely and gay. Who else but Rocky would deliver the coup de grace that would celebrate the geekiness that surrounds our lives?

Rocky woke me up to this sight.

Yes, that's a host of wonderful surprises in the shape of a T! I tell you, I think I was blushing like a cartoon character as my senses came into more focus to realize the display before me was a surprise Rocky had successfully kept me from picking up! I wasn't sure whether to scream, to dance, or to squeal. Okay, fine, I admit I sorta did a bit of all of those at the same time.

So starting with the yummy nom noms, Rocky knew I loved Jamaican patties and got us each one to devour with a relish! He also got us Subway sandwiches to make sure we had something to eat for that brunch. But the best part was that he actually got Quickly! And he even got the kind I wanted (no I'm not repeating what it is! Do your research, folks..) and kept reminding me I had to start drinking it before it melted. But man, that's just the beginning...

You see, I have this thing about rescuing stuffed toys. I used to have a larger collection of them back when I lived alone, and admittedly I had to give up a large number of them when I opted to take a gamble at moving out and living alone. There are those odd days I notice a stuffed toy being sold at some sale and Rocky would tease me about how I would be trying to rescue them again. (I do, actually. I mean, so many of them look so cute and sad that no one loves them..) Rocky got this uber cuddly round pig that I have now come to officially name as part of the collection.

A few months back, Rocky and I were at a shop looking at this very thing! I recall admitting how nice it looked and how exciting it would be to actually own it. They were Malcom Reynolds pendants which were kept in a precious cigarillos box! The box kept reminding me (probably wrongly though) of the box which the Preacher showed Kaylee at the pilot episode to gain passage on the Serenity. But man, Rocky got us these wonderful Firefly memorabilia!

And it gets even more awesome...

Tim Burton playing cards.

Seriously. Tim Burton playing cards! I love his artwork, I love his vision, I love his work! And these cards are just beautiful. Absolutely stunning. I haven't opened the pack yet (part of me still feels selfish about letting others peek at it too!) but I can already foresee how fun it would be seeing his artwork to represent each and every card.

Now I admit, I'm no huge trekkie/trekker fan. I have yet to truly go through the Original Series nor Next Generation. I did watch Deep Space Nine and I will admit a love for Voyager. Captain Janeway remains my favorite Captain despite the many groups online that feel she was the weakest among the Captains. I enjoyed the Voyager run far more than most did, and I will admit Rocky getting me to see the shows has tempted me to actually try running a Trek game someday.

But then he actually decided to get me this!

And its magnetic! OMG!!! I know I probably am geeking out more than most of you understand, but come on, on the show you see them normally just grabbing the comm badge, then pushing it against their clothes and its suddenly nicely on their uniform! Now I get to do that very same action! And as Rocky put it, now anything I wear can become a uniform!

I'm such a geek. Tee hee!

But wait, there was one last item which I didn't ever expect. After Paul, Dante, Oneal and Rej got a bunch of us geeks to see Blink for the first time, we were hooked. Dr. Who had become a fandom we enjoyed immensely and slowly Rocky and I had been growing our collection of items. Given the shows myriad of characters, there was one character whom I dearly loved the most.

And Rocky got these:

A mini Journal set of 3 Dr Who notebooks.OMG! Check them out below!

The notebooks are so beautiful I just went speechless. And of course, Rocky knew me enough to tease me that he knew I'd be so tortured about wanting to use them, and yet not wanting to "ruin them" by writing on them. I admitted to him that he was right, and that I just... wah, I still don't know when I'd actually write on them. They're just so beautiful and fantastic and...

Spoilers, indeed!

So yeah, this birthday has been tremendously awesome. Rocky's geeky bundle of joy was such an experience I can only pray to find a way to make him feel just as special and loved as I did today. This was such a cherry to top the day off that I am a tremendously happy doggie right now.

And of course, there's this:

I love my life with you Rocky.And I love all these people who have allowed me to be part of theirs as well.

Thank you so much for making my first step into being 37 such a delightful experience.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

The other week I managed to get one of Red Ribbon's limited Mango Cream Pies for Tobie. It was one of his earliest stories when we were first getting to know one another - the fact that he could walk around the mall eating the entire pie all by himself. But by the time we had gotten together, the pies had been taken off the menu for some reason. Thankfully they're back for a few months.

I had no particular reason to get the pie - no particular anniversary or something like that. It was just something that I wanted to do for Tobie - and so I went ahead and got it and gingerly carried it all the way home to the Sietch. And that sort of captures a big part of our relationship - all the random crazy surprises that we like to spring on one another. The seemingly grand yet ever so baduy gestures that really add color to our lives.

Five years ago, Tobie got on one knee in the middle of the old O Bar in Malate and promised to be loyal forever. And we had our share of ups and downs over the years including a brief period apart in 2012, but now we're officially back together and we continue to move forward together.

And so I continue to find new ways to surprise him, new ways to make him happy or at least surprising ways to get him to smile. April 23 may not be our current official anniversary any more, but it's still another special day to remember.

Plus I love how goofy Tobie looks when I do something special for him.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

I haven't been posting much in the last few months. Admittedly, this in a large part is due to the fact I'm just really spread out thinly across so many projects, things to do, and hobbies to enjoy that I have been neglecting my blogging. My gay blog, Blame It On the Rain,Bro hasn't had a real blog post in months. Tagsessions is trying to catch up with its formerly daily updates. And Garapata Does Speak has been terribly silent for so long.

But all in all, I've been quite a tremendously happy camper. And that is in no small part due to how Rocky finds ways every single day to make me smile. Whether its with a geeky tidbit we'd both check out, a romantic gesture, a supportive hug, or a reassuring touch, Rocky finds ways to remind me of how lucky we are to have found each other. To have grown together in the time that passed. To have grown stronger in the fact of everything we have been thrown against.

But yes, I know I've been quite quiet on the Baduy Pride front. I used to gush and boast about so many things that make things special for me and Rocky. I used to go all out and just post the stuff when I can. Lately, however, I've been starting to feel a bit more selective.

More things are starting to feel like happy moments I want to keep just between me and him. And these are not out of having to hide them, or feelings of shame or the like. I just can't help but feel there are things I would like for us to cherish between ourselves alone.. at least for now.

In the time that has passed, I've started to get a better perspective on other people. Some people I've so long deemed as friends are now clearly people whom seem to celebrate my existence only when they need something, or when its convenient. But when push comes to shove, when speaking up for what's right is needed, they seem to just fade away. Other friends enjoy my friendship with one hand, then spend the rest of the day spewing hateful words which for them are just "expressions" and "jokes"but one has to at some point wonder if they care how it does hurt others. Especially when you've raised it already. More revelations, more realizations and more personalities become clearer. The ones you care for soon become people you can still reach out towards, but now with clearer boundaries to avoid confusion. The ones you can count on who make the same effort to show you that you matter to them just as much as they do to you. The people who never give up on you.

Rocky and I are so lucky to have what we have. And I hope you all out there don't mind if for the mean time I might relish a little bit of selfishness keeping things between me and him. This won't be forever, that's for sure. But it is just to reassure you all that things are magnificent right now.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Whenever Tobie and I are about to head out, one of us is bound to ask the other - "What are you going to wear?" It's a simple enough question that sort of unlocks a whole world of meaning beyond it.
Every couple out there (straight or otherwise) inevitably gets into "couples outfits" - pairs of shirts or even full matching ensembles that you can wear together and create a strong visual cue that you're together. It's a cheesy, corny, heck baduy practice that even I have scoffed at from time to time, but now I'm guilty of it as well.

Friday, February 14, 2014

As mentioned previously, I ended up getting Tobie's Valentine's Day gifts a week early. To be fair, I had no idea that I would be at Fully Booked's branch at Fort Bonifacio nor did I have a specific plan as to what I was going to get him. But these two Studio Ghibli art books presentends themselves to me and it seemed like the perfect gift idea at the time. And since I had already tortured Tobie over the Christmas holidays with a delayed gift, I figured I'd cut him some slack this time around.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Do try to celebrate love in all its forms today.

Besides, they say bitterness and resentment is bad for your skin or something.